Business and director fined $92,500 after Townsville trailer collapse
04 Apr 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe QLD
A Townsville steel fabrication business and its director have been fined a combined $92,500 after a trailer fell towards a worker in a spray-painting booth, causing significant head fractures.
The Townsville Magistrates Court found the business had failed to meet its duty and the director had failed to exercise due diligence, exposing a worker to the risk of death or serious injury. The company was fined $85,000 plus $1,101.40 in costs, while the director was fined $7,500 plus costs. No conviction was recorded.
The incident occurred in June 2022 while the director, who was also the manager, was helping a worker prepare a large, newly fabricated truck trailer for painting in one of three onsite spray-painting booths. Preparation included moving items with a forklift, cleaning and dusting equipment, and securing items on steel stands.
The manager used a forklift to move the trailer into the booth and lowered it onto two steel support stands. The worker then placed a 60-litre drum beside the trailer’s right-hand side to use as a platform to reach its upper sections.
As the worker pulled himself onto the drum using the trailer’s side rail, the trailer toppled towards him, causing significant fractures to his head. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland’s investigation found the 800–900kg truck tray was heavier on one side and unstable, particularly when subjected to sideways forces.
Magistrate Susan Warrington found that two stands were insufficient to support the large trailer and that the drum was an inadequate platform for working at height. The worker had not been trained in working at heights, although the company had some procedures covering that activity.
Statements showed the drum had previously been used for similar work. The magistrate accepted findings that its use as a work platform should have been prohibited and that additional stands, or other larger stands, should have supported the trailer to make it stable.
In setting the penalty, the magistrate noted that the director had supervised the work and placed the trailer on the inadequate stands, resulting in significant injuries to the worker.
The court also took into account a timely guilty plea, cooperation, expressed remorse and the absence of previous convictions.
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